All Things Dog Blog

Friday, April 12, 2013

Pet Routines Lead to Bonding

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Today as I cleaned our Beta Fish's tank (his name is Chiffon) the boys were very attentive. I realized after a few minutes that it was not simply their curiosity about what I was doing with his "house", but also why. Obviously Chiffon needs no grooming, as Oliver and Tanner do. But caring for his home is rather akin to the same thing. It's something I do to keep him healthy and happy.

As the boys nuzzled my legs, I continued to clean Chiffon's tank, purify water for him and go about the business of putting him in his clean house. Tanner and Oliver looked on with a new attitude, one that reflected a deepening understanding that I was caring for Chiffon in much the same way that I care for them.

Our regular grooming sessions include the usual brushing, teeth cleaning, checking of paw pads and ears, and so on. I'm not sure who enjoys these sessions more, me or them--probably a toss up. What I do know is that grooming them definitely draws us closer.

They seem to know that trimming the fur from between their pads is useful and important, even as I pry them apart to check for ticks. They don't fight it or resist in any way. Once, when we did have a tick infestation following a camping trip to the woods, the dogs (we had 3 at that time) all endured twice daily debugging, along with lots of peppermint oil baths until we eradicated our home, yard and pets of these pesky, dangerous parasites.

If you--like me--prefer the natural method to pest control, you may be interested in the method by which we became tick free. I'm on a roll to rid our home of pesticides and

toxins. Yep; that's why we choose organic food as well.

Our new alliance with Natural Balance has the boys transitioning to the Natural Balance Organic diet, and so far all is terrific. Watch for more on this new adventure, and meanwhile, take a moment to click the banner above this post and you'll be able to receive some valuable coupons from Natural Balance. What's not to like about discounts, right?

Happy Weekend!

Join us each week for the Weekly Wag bonding series, held during the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. The hop is hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume. You are welcome to link up here, or check any of their sites for their rules of participation. Happy hopping!

5 comments:

Shane Oconnell said...: wow I just came across your site and have found it so informative:)
I have a found that routine is very important with my dogs. When I had my first dog Sarge, he was a pain to get
potty trained. But when we adopted Cappie into the family she was much easier to house train! So I know first hand that waht you're saying here is correct!; April 13, 2013 at 12:32 AM
GizmoGeodog said...: I always keep a beta bowl and I've seen Gizmo take the same interest in the cleaning and care; April 13, 2013 at 4:55 AM
Laurie said...: I'm sure the reason they let you do all of that foot care and de-ticking is that they know you care. Dogs are so trusting when they feel they are cared for. It must be so cool for them to see you taking care of the fish too :); April 14, 2013 at 8:36 PM
Dawn said...: Maya & Pierson are great about grooming time too, even teeth brushing (which they hate). So what is your natural remedy for ticks? The peppermint oil? Do you just get some extract and put it in their shampoo?; April 15, 2013 at 10:07 AM
Carrie, with Tanner and Oliver said...: Hi Dawn! It's actually a tiny bit more complicated than that. Read No More Ticks for Tanner: http://www.allthingsdogblog.com/2010/01/no-more-ticks-for-tanner.html AND if you're still interested in trying it, give me another shout and I'll give you the recipes. :)

To other readers....same deal goes. Are you interested in this enough to hear exactly how we do it? I can publish it all in a post...; April 15, 2013 at 4:54 PM